by Peake, R. W.
My friend sighed, looking at me with what looked dangerously close to pity. “Why do you insist on continuing to try and antagonize this woman? Isn’t it enough that you and Miriam are alive? Why can’t that be enough?”
“But how else do I convince her that she needs to stop?”
For once, I had brought up something Scribonius had obviously not considered, and he rubbed his chin as he thought.
“I don’t know,” he finally admitted, frowning at my whoop of triumph that I had come up with something he had not. Still, he was not convinced. “I don’t think that dumping a pile of bodies in front of her door is the way to do it, though.”
“I need to do something,” I argued.
“That’s true.” He nodded. “I can see that. I was thinking of something a bit more…subtle than what you had in mind.”
I gave a snort, not wanting to hear about anything subtle. It was one thing to try and kill me, but when she sent the scum lying there in the alley after Miriam, that had enraged me more than any attempt on my life could. Now, I wanted to show my contempt for the queen of Egypt. Although I must say that there was a tiny, small voice of caution that knew that in all likelihood Scribonius was right, that I would only goad the queen into increasing her efforts. The reality was that I could not hope to compete with her if she really wanted to eliminate not only me, but every member of my family and those that I loved. I gave a bitter curse as I gave in.
“Fine, you win.”
I poked him in the chest with enough force to make him to take a step back as he blinked in surprise at my vehemence. “But you better think of that subtle thing you think would be better.”
With that settled for the moment, and with the threat from the city watch gone, I turned my thoughts back to other matters. Realizing that it would not be smart just to leave the bodies in the alley, I called Balbus back over from where he was standing with the rest of the men. Gaius was still there with Iras in the sack over his shoulder, which kept twitching as she struggled inside.
“We need to get these bodies out of here,” I told him, ignoring the irritation that flashed across his features, knowing that he was thinking that they had just worked to drag them into the alley and now I wanted to move them again.
“Find a wagon or cart that we can load them up in, and then drag them out of here.”
“Where are we supposed to take them?” he asked incredulously.
“I don’t care,” I shot back. “I just don’t want them here by the apartment stinking the place up, and I don’t want them drawing attention to this area. Someone will bring the city watch here as soon as it’s light, and they’ll be poking around.”
I looked up, dismayed to see that the sky above was already turning gray, and while I could not see the eastern horizon, I had seen enough sunrises to know that it was already pink. We would not have time if we wanted to get back to camp, and have the men in place for morning formation. Despite the fact that I was Primus Pilus, and these were my men, it would still arouse some attention and suspicion to have not just rankers missing, but the Secundus Pilus Prior and my Pilus Posterior missing as well. Realizing that the lesser of the evils would be to have the rankers missing, which I could cover, especially since their Centurions were here with me, I called the men over to tell them what needed to be done. They clearly did not like it any more than Balbus had, but they knew better than to complain, at least until after I was gone. I had Gaius hand Balbus the sack containing Iras, still not having decided when to kill her, then I had an inspiration.
“Bring her with me,” I told Balbus, then entered the apartment.
I am ashamed to say that until Scribonius mentioned her name, I had not thought about Miriam, making me feel guilty that she had been sitting quaking in fear inside, listening to the sound of fighting beyond her front door. I went to push the door open, found it barred, and I called to Miriam.
“Titus Pullus, is it really you?”
Even muffled by the door, the fear in her voice was clear to hear, and I replied soothingly that it was indeed me. I heard the bar being lifted, the door opened a crack, a large brown eye peering up at me before the door was thrown open and she flew into my arms, clutching my neck so tightly that I was afraid I would choke.
“I have never been so frightened in all my life. I did not know what was happening.”
I quickly explained to her what had taken place, assuring her that she was now safe, and motioning to Balbus to follow me into the apartment. I directed him to dump the sack on the floor, and Iras let out a grunt as her body hit the stone floor, muffled by her gag, causing Miriam to start at the unexpected sounds coming from the sack. Untying the end, I whipped it off her, leaving a glaring Iras blinking at the sudden light of the lamps that Miriam had burning. She immediately began cursing us through the gag; at least that is what I assumed she was doing. Miriam gave me a sharp glance as she moved instinctively to loosen the girl’s bonds and remove the cloth from her mouth.
“I wouldn't do that if I were you, Miriam,” Balbus said mildly, but he sounded a little too casual for my tastes, and I suspect that he was looking forward to whatever came out of the girl’s mouth and Miriam’s subsequent reaction.
I was not about to let that happen, so I reached out to restrain Miriam, but she shook my arm off, clearly angry with me for my treatment of Iras. I could understand her reaction; looking at Iras, one would not think of her as the viper that she was, but she was dangerous and I was not about to put Miriam at risk.
“This is the person who poisoned Eumenis,” I told her, gratified to see Miriam’s hand immediately freeze, looking up at me with shock and horror.
Directing her gaze back down at the bound girl, I saw the two exchange a look that told Miriam it was true, her face changing from disbelief to a cold anger that I had never seen before.
Straightening up, Miriam turned to look at me, asking me in an eerily calm voice, “What do you bring her here for? So that I may kill her?”
I confess I was not prepared for that question, at least not coming from Miriam, and I stood rooted for a moment while I tried to come up with an appropriate answer.
“Why not?” Balbus asked me. “She deserves to have her vengeance just as much as you do.”
I looked over at Miriam, and her face was as if it was carved from stone as she stared down at Iras, who was looking up at my woman, quaking in more fear than she had shown to that point. I did not clearly understand, nor do I now, why she was obviously so much more frightened of Miriam than she was of any of us, but I suppose it has something to do with gender. I have seen women fighting more times than I can count, and they have a viciousness that men seem to lack, so I suppose that Iras had good cause for fear.
“Is this what you want?”
I watched Miriam closely, who did not take her gaze from Iras.
Finally, she shook her head. “No,” she said dully. “It will not bring Eumenis back.”
“I understand,” I said, putting my hand on her shoulder, feeling the trembling clearly through the cloth covering her body, and I wondered if it was from the residual fear, or her anger and hatred for Iras was more powerful than I imagined. “But I do need you to watch her for a while,” I said, relieved when she nodded. “I'll be back to fetch her after we get back to camp and have morning formation.”
“You’re going to kill her, aren’t you?”
She did not look at me as she asked, but I sensed that my answer was very important to her, despite not knowing what she wanted to hear.
I took a deep breath, hesitating before I finally answered, “What do you think?”
That is when she turned to look at me, her eyes locking with mine as she seemed to try and peer into my soul for the answer.
Evidently she found the answer, giving a brief nod, but not saying anything more than, “I will watch her. If she tries anything, you will not have to kill her.”
With that, we left the apartment, where Scribonius was supervising the men
who were now stacking the bodies of the slain while they waited for Gaius to return with a wagon. Seeing nothing left to do, the three of us turned towards the camp. We had to hurry to make it before the bucina sounded the signal for morning formation, so there was not much talking, which I think all of us welcomed. It had been a busy, harrowing night, and we knew from experience that while none of us were tired at the moment, whatever numen that inhabits the body in moments of danger that keeps us from experiencing fatigue would be fleeing soon. We reached camp, it actually working out perfectly, since men were streaming in from where they stayed out in the city overnight, most of them Centurions of course, and we mingled with them and had no trouble getting in. The last hurdle overcome, I could feel the tension draining from my body, immediately flooding in behind it the fatigue, my legs suddenly feeling as if they were filled with lead. I could see that Scribonius and Balbus felt much the same, and when we caught ourselves eying one another, obviously looking for signs of what we each were feeling, we had to laugh, rueful as it may have been.
“We aren’t getting any younger,” Scribonius acknowledged what we were thinking.
“No, but we can still kill anyone that tries to stand before us.”
I could count on Balbus to boil things down to its simplest essence, and as usual, he was right. We were slowing down, but we were not done, not by a long stretch, and it was this thought that was in my mind as we made our way to the forum, where the Legions were already forming up. There are always two formations in the morning; one for the whole army, where the orders of the day for everyone are relayed, such as they are, and a second for each Legion, where the specific tasks for that particular Legion are passed along.
As we walked to our spots, thankful that our respective Optios had done their jobs of rousing our Centuries without having to rely on us, Balbus commented, “Don’t be surprised if when you get back, Iras is already dead.”
I was caught off guard, stopping still as I thought about it, wondering if he had seen something in Miriam that I had missed. While I had been shocked that she would even consider avenging Eumenis’ death herself, she seemed to discard the idea immediately. My mind was occupied with these thoughts while the daily ritual of an army in camp began. As it would turn out, I would be surprised, but not in the way that Balbus predicted.
The day dragged by with me counting the moments until I could safely slip away from camp and return to the apartment. Neither Antonius nor Cleopatra had appeared at the morning formation, which was not unusual. In fact, if either of them had shown up, I would have been instantly suspicious, such was my frame of mind. The men returned from their chore of disposing of the bodies, allowed back into camp with the passes that I had signed for them, and Gaius immediately came to find me to report that they had managed, albeit with some difficulty to remove the dead men.
“We took them to the docks and found an isolated spot. We threw them into the water, but we weighted them down first,” he told me, clearly proud of himself because of the responsibility I had given him.
I thanked him, even though I did not need to, but he shook the thanks off.
“They tried to kill Miriam,” he said, his mouth a thin line, which I had learned was a sign of his anger. “I love her, Uncle, and I'd rather die than see anything happen to her. Not in the same way you love her, of course,” he added hastily, his face turning red, but I took no offense, knowing what he meant, or at least thinking that I did.
After catching up on some reports that the Praetorium had been clamoring for, and updating Diocles on all that had transpired the previous evening, I was at last ready to return to the apartment to finish the business with Iras. Before I left, I found Scribonius, overseeing his Century working the stakes, and pulled him aside.
“Well? Have you come up with something more subtle than what I wanted to do?”
He shook his head and said, “Just kill her and be done with it. It'll be enough that Cleopatra sees that you’re alive.”
I did not like it, and I said as much before I left to return to the apartment. Miriam was sitting at the table, with Iras still bound but with the gag out of her mouth. They both looked up guiltily when I entered, as if I were interrupting a private conversation. Iras looked away from me, making me wonder what she was hiding, as Miriam rose to greet me. Before I could say a word, she pulled me into the next room, closing the door.
“I don’t think that’s wise, to leave her alone like that,” I told her, but Miriam was dismissive.
“She will be fine. She knows what I am going to talk to you about.”
I did not like the sound of that at all, and it only got worse.
“Titus Pullus, I think you should spare Iras’ life.”
I felt my jaw drop open as I stared down at her, trying to understand what she had just said.
“Spare her life?” I was incredulous, my tone causing her own jaw to clench, her chin tilting up in a sign I knew far too well.
“Do you know anything about her? Do you know what she has been forced to endure because of Cleopatra?”
“I know that she poisoned Eumenis, but only because she was trying to kill us,” I retorted.
“That was because she was forced to do so by that . . . woman.” Miriam would rarely utter a foul word, but her feelings for Cleopatra were such that I could see she was sorely tempted to say something else.
As I listened to her, I realized what was going on; Iras had been working on her, changing herself into the exact opposite of what I believed to be her true nature, which we had seen in Deukalos’ villa. It was easy to understand how Miriam could be fooled, I thought. After all, I had been lulled into a false belief that such a young, beautiful girl could not have the heart and nature of a viper coiled to strike. With that in mind, I tried to explain patiently that Miriam had been fooled, but while she listened quietly to my description of how Iras acted when we had captured her, she was unmoved.
“She told me all that,” she said quietly. “She just wanted not to appear to be frightened by you and thought if she showed loyalty to Cleopatra you would be impressed by her bravery and spare her life. She says she hates Cleopatra, and I believe her.”
I was completely dumbfounded and did not know what to say to convince Miriam that she was being fooled by this girl. Seeing my hesitation and mistaking it for wavering, Miriam grabbed my arm, squeezing it hard with the urgency she was feeling.
“Titus, I am asking you to trust me. I know that she is telling the truth, I know it in my bones. My people are blessed with the gift of being able to see a person’s true nature at times, and this is one of those times.”
I shook my head, readying the argument in my head that would convince her that this was not one of those times, even as I knew that it would be close to hopeless.
Then Miriam said something that changed everything, as quickly as a bolt of lightning chars a tree. “Think how angry Cleopatra would be if we spared her life, and took her into our household.”
Her words cut through my brain, and I felt a shock of excitement. Miriam was looking up at me earnestly, her hand still on my arm as my mind began churning on the idea.
“It would make her angry enough to chew through nails,” I said slowly, surprising myself that the words were coming out of my mouth.
Miriam nodded emphatically. “Yes! And it would let her know that we are not afraid of her, and she will always wonder what secrets her slave is telling us about her and Antonius.”
That clinched it for me, and I looked down at my woman, admiring the cunning turn her mind had taken, but as quickly as that came, I was struck by another thought, more unwelcome.
“Is this Iras talking? Did she plant this idea in your head?”
Miriam’s face flashed with a rare show of anger. “Why do you think that I can’t think of this on my own? Iras was telling me how much she hated Cleopatra, but she never said anything about sparing her life, or staying in our household. I just listened to what she said, and the idea came
to me.”
And that is how Iras came to live in our household, although it was a long, slow process before she was trusted enough to be given the same amount of freedom that the rest of the slaves and Diocles had. At first, I locked her up every night, less out of fear that she would run away than what she might try to do to us in our sleep, and she was never allowed anywhere near our food for the first several months. As time passed, I began to suspect that Miriam’s intervention was due more to her desire for a companion than any genuine compassion for the girl, but that is getting ahead of this tale of mine. That day, I do not know who was more surprised when I walked out with Miriam to face the girl, who stared up at me with a mixture of fear and hopefulness. I squatted down next to her so that we were at eye level, and I bored my eyes into hers as I spoke, searching her face for signs of guile.
“You need to thank your gods that my woman has such a kind heart, girl.”
Before I could say another word, Iras burst into tears, throwing her body at Miriam’s feet. I got the distinct impression that if her hands had been free she would have wrapped them around my woman’s legs as she sobbed her gratitude.
“Mistress, thank you, thank you, thank you! I will make offerings to Isis and Ptah and to your god Baal every day! There is no way I can repay this kindness, and I shall be devoted to you for the rest of my days!”
Miriam looked equal parts pleased and embarrassed at Iras’ display, and I was not very gentle when I grabbed the girl by the arm to pull her back upright so that we could continue our conversation, one-sided as it may have been.
“Understand this.” I made my tone as grim as I could to impart how serious I was. “You're going to be treated fairly, but I don’t trust you, and I don’t know that I ever will. That means that you're not going to have the same kind of freedom my other slaves have. You're going to be locked up every night, and you're never going anywhere alone, but that's for your safety as much as it is to keep an eye on you. You told me how you were willing to die for Cleopatra, but now you’re singing a different song to the lady.”
